Pentecostal Theology According to the Theologians: An Introduction to the Theological Methods of Pentecostal Systematic Theologians

271 Pages·2009·1.67 MB·English

by  Christopher Adam Stephenson

Marquette University
e-Publications@Marquette
Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects
Pentecostal Theology According to the
Theologians: An Introduction to the Theological
Methods of Pentecostal Systematic Theologians
Christopher Adam Stephenson
Marquette University
Recommended Citation
Stephenson, Christopher Adam, "Pentecostal Theology According to the Theologians: An Introduction to the Theological Methods of
Pentecostal Systematic Theologians" (2009).Dissertations (2009 -).Paper 9.
http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/9
PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGY ACCORDING TO THE THEOLOGIANS:
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THEOLOGICAL METHODS OF
PENTECOSTAL SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGIANS

by

Christopher A. Stephenson, B.A., M.A.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School,
Marquette University,
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

December 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Christopher Adam Stephenson

All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGY ACCORDING TO THE THEOLOGIANS:
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THEOLOGICAL METHODS OF
PENTECOSTAL SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGIANS

Christopher A. Stephenson, B.A., M.A.

Marquette University, 2009

This dissertation is a twofold argument that 1) existing pentecostal systematic
theology can be interpreted according to four analytical categories and that 2) future
pentecostal theological method should incorporate a form of lex orandi, lex credendi for
the benefit of pentecostal theology and spirituality.
I analyze the theological methods of major past and present pentecostal
systematic theologians and demonstrate that they have followed four basic patterns. First,
Myer Pearlman, E. S. Williams, and French L. Arrington take the material for their
theologies almost exclusively from the Bible. Second, Steven J. Land and Simon K. H.
Chan center their theologies on the relationship between theology and spirituality. Third,
Frank D. Macchia sets the whole of his theology against the background of the kingdom
of God and pneumatology. Fourth, Amos Yong focuses his theology on philosophical and
fundamental theology from a pneumatological perspective.
After analyzing and assessing the methodologies of these pentecostal theologians,
I argue that future pentecostal theological method should incorporate a form of lex
orandi, lex credendi that I call regula spiritualitatis, regula doctrinae, or, “the rule of
spirituality and the rule of doctrine.” This methodological principle utilizes the strengths
from the above pentecostal theologians and asks pentecostals to give detailed
consideration to the reciprocal relationship between Christian spirituality and doctrine in
the process of theologizing. I recommend this methodological principle because it 1)
exhibits the traditional pentecostal emphasis on both pneumatology and eschatology, 2)
establishes a strong relationship between theology and spirituality, especially in the
process of formulating doctrine, 3) is attentive to the hermeneutical matrix constituted by
the worshipping communities in which pentecostal theologians are situated, and 4) gives
a prominent place to biblical interpretation in systematic theology. I illustrate the
contours of regula spiritualitatis, regula doctrinae with a case study of the Lord‟s supper
that draws on three particular facets of pentecostal spirituality in order to construct a
doctrine of the Lord‟s supper that critiques other facets of pentecostal spirituality.
iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Christopher A. Stephenson, B.A., M.A.

I wish to thank a number of people for their assistance with my dissertation. First,
my wife, Lisa Stephenson, has been both an encouraging spouse and a colleague during
this process. My parents, Richard Stephenson and Kathy Stephenson, have expressed
only support during the course of all of my academic studies.
Second, my director, D. Lyle Dabney, first encouraged me to write a dissertation
on pentecostal theology. Michel Barnes, Ralph Del Colle, and Philip J. Rossi also gave
helpful responses as members of my committee. A special thanks is due to Amos Yong
for serving as the external reader on my committee and especially for his responses to my
assessment of his theology in chapter four.
Third, a generous financial grant from the Louisville Institute during my last year
of writing provided the support necessary for me to focus my attention and complete the
dissertation.
Fourth, the librarians and staff of the Raynor Memorial Libraries (of Marquette
University) and the William G. Squires Library (of Lee University) assisted with many
needs while researching and writing. They also proved themselves to be valued co-
workers while I had the opportunity to work with each during my doctoral studies.
Fifth, portions of chapter five are taken from Christopher A. Stephenson, “The
Rule of Spirituality and the Rule of Doctrine: A Necessary Relationship in Theological
Method.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 15, no. 1 (2006): 83-105.
v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1

I. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AS “BIBLE DOCTRINES”: MYER PEARLMAN,
E. S. WILLIAMS, AND FRENCH L. ARRINGTON ..........................................................11

Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................11

Biblical Interpretation as the Primary Task of Systematic Theology ........................20

The Function of Scripture in Systematic Theology: Starting with Epistemology .....25

Other Sources for Theology .......................................................................................30

Influences and Continuities........................................................................................32

Assessment .................................................................................................................36

Summary and Conclusion ..........................................................................................40

II. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
STEVEN J. LAND AND SIMON K. H. CHAN ...................................................................41

Introduction ................................................................................................................41

Steven J. Land ............................................................................................................41

Overview ........................................................................................................41

Spirituality as Theology .................................................................................45

Apocalyptic Affections ..................................................................................48

Apocalyptic/Eschatology and Pneumatology ................................................52

Religious Experience .....................................................................................57

Trinity and Transformation ............................................................................59

Influences and Continuities............................................................................60

Descriptive Influences .......................................................................60

Constructive Influences .....................................................................63
vi

Simon K. H. Chan ......................................................................................................66

Overview ........................................................................................................66

Spirituality and the Branches of Theology ....................................................68

Ascetic Spirituality.........................................................................................76

The Traditioning Process and Pentecostal Theology .....................................79

Ecclesiology ...................................................................................................85

Ontology of the Church .....................................................................85

Ecclesiology and Pneumatology ........................................................89

Influences and Continuities............................................................................92

Assessment .................................................................................................................93

Summary and Conclusion ..........................................................................................99

III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND
PNEUMATOLOGY: FRANK D. MACCHIA ......................................................................100

Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................100

A Theology of the Kingdom of God ..........................................................................102

A Theology of Glossolalia .........................................................................................103

Pneumatology and Justification .................................................................................112

Towards a Pneumatological Theology.......................................................................120

Baptism in the Holy Spirit as Theology‟s Organizing Principle ...................120

The Church and the Kingdom ........................................................................122

Christ and the Kingdom .................................................................................127

Influences and Continuities........................................................................................128

Assessment .................................................................................................................135
vii

Summary and Conclusion ..........................................................................................142

IV. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AS PHILOSOPHICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL
THEOLOGY IN PNEUMATOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: AMOS YONG.......................144

Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................144

Theological Hermeneutics and a “Pneumatology of Quest” .....................................148

Foundational Pneumatology ..........................................................................148

Pneumatological Imagination ........................................................................154

Pneumatological Theology of Religions ....................................................................158

Discernment of and by the Spirit ...................................................................159

Discerning the Concrete: Umbanda and Buddhism .......................................163

Pneumatology, Pentecostalism, and the Possibility of “World Theology” ...............170

Pentecostal Theology and Systematic Loci ...................................................172

Pneumatological Soteriology .............................................................173

Pneumatological Ecclesiology ...........................................................176

Theology of Disability and Systematic Loci .................................................178

Creation from a Disabilities Perspective............................................180

Resurrection from a Disabilities Perspective .....................................181

Influences and Continuities........................................................................................183

Assessment .................................................................................................................185

Summary and Conclusion ..........................................................................................190

V. “REGULA SPIRITUALITATIS, REGULA DOCTRINAE”: A CONTRIBUTION TO
PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGICAL METHOD ....................................................................191

Introduction ................................................................................................................191

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi ..........................................................................................194
viii

The Rule of Spirituality and the Rule of Doctrine .....................................................198

Relationship Between Spirituality and Doctrine............................................198

Some Core Aspects of Pentecostal Spirituality .............................................206

A Doctrine of the Lord‟s Supper in Light of Pentecostal Spirituality .......................208

More Than Remembrance ..............................................................................209

Divine Presence in the Supper .......................................................................211

Eschatological Passions .................................................................................215

The Presence of a Minister ............................................................................216

Pentecostal Spirituality in Light of a Doctrine of the Lord‟s Supper ........................218

“Realized Eschatology” .................................................................................218

Frequency of Celebration ...............................................................................222

Deepening Understanding of the Supper‟s Significance ...............................223

Summary and Conclusion ..........................................................................................225

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................227
1

INTRODUCTION

Setting the Stage

April 1906 marked the one-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of a spiritual
revival at Azusa Street in Los Angeles. While scholars now recognize the pentecostal
tradition‟s multiple points of origin within and without the United States, the events at
Azusa are most frequently associated with its birth.1 In less than a century it has become
a global force in Christianity with significant representations on every continent. While
sometimes dismissed as a movement merely of devotional significance with great
emphasis on spirituality, pentecostalism was in fact a theological movement from the
beginning. The spread of the movement was immediately accompanied by theological
interpretations of various pneumatologically centered religious experiences and the
biblical texts that became primary in light of those experiences.
Whatever strengths this early theology had, it is marked by at least five
detrimental characteristics. First, it was rarely systematic or comprehensive. There are an
abundance of early pentecostal tracts on any number of issues, such as, the Trinity,
baptism in the Holy Spirit, glossolalia, divine healing, the parousia, sanctification, and so
on; however, there are few attempts in this period to give a systematic representation of
the whole of the canonical scriptural witness or to give a comprehensive statement on all
of those things that are of concern to Christian theology. Second, most early pentecostal
theologians did not have the benefits of formal academic theological training. This has

1Other points of origin include Topeka, KS and Appalachia, in addition to a number of locations
outside the United States in which pentecostalism is indigenous rather than the result of missionary
expansions from North America. For an introduction to the events of Azusa Street and their aftermath, see
Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006).